Basically, this novel is six "novellas" following the life of Holly Sykes (I mean, it wouldn't be a David Mitchell book if it didn't have six separate stories in it would it?) each of a different genre with a different setting and narrator. Now, in "Cloud Atlas", this worked really well, as the whole point of that novel was the connections between each story. In "The Bone Clocks", an overarching story is more present. This can mean that the narrative becomes very frustrating, as Mitchell chooses to have each "Novella" focus mainly on its narrator, meaning the Holly story is left alone for a good chunk of the book (which is over 600 pages long, so not a light read). This means, just as we are interested in an event, we are zoomed forward in time a decade to the next novella, to a different place and the narrative will eventually reveal what happened in the mean time. This can be effective, as sometimes there's an emotional punch we didn't expect, told as if it's been and gone and so doesn't matter, yet to the reader, it's a big shock. It's done well, but it's annoying. Also, there are no chapters, just big chunks of text, which I found a bit overwhelming to begin with. I think, to make it easier for all of us, I will review each story separately. One problem that I'll ignore is Mitchell's enormous stereotyping. So, when he write about the 1980s, he tries to fit as many '80s stereotypes in a possible, or when he writes about the early 2000s, of course, he has to include the Afghanistan war. It's almost as if, to the characters in the book, the only things that happen in a decade are the famous aspects.
1. A Hot Spell (1984)
This is a really nice introduction, narrated by a 15 year old Holly. It's sort of a typical rebellious teenager story with some great characterisation from the start. Holly's an instantly likeable and realistic character and Mitchell wastes no time getting her story going. There are occasional moments linking towards the book's fifth story (and arguably its climax) that make no sense at the time of reading, as they are most definitely within the "fantasy" genre, and so feel very out of place, however this novella is very entertaining and fun. 9/10
2. Myrrh is Mine, It's Bitter Perfume (1991)
This is probably the worst novella in the book. We follow the incredibly irritating Hugo Lamb through some very boring Cambridge jargon filled generic "being mean to people". This mundane conversation based novella comes straight after the cliffhanger (see what I did there?) at the end of "A Hot Spell" and so is incredibly frustrating, especially as Holly only enters about half way through. Things become a bit more interesting with her around, but looking back, while Hugo's character does become important, this one felt a bit pointless. 3/10
3. The Wedding Bash (2004)
By contrast, this one was my favourite. Narrated by Ed Brubeck (minor spoiler alert), Holly's now partner (a very well written and flawed yet likeable character), the narrative switches between a family wedding and Brubeck's reporting in Afghanistan. Suspenseful, intriguing and very realistic, this novella had just the right amount of everything, as well as a conclusion linked to the overall "Bone Clocks" story that had just enough mad fantasy elements in it to maintain an interest yet not put me off. This one was far easier to read than the previous one, making me feel almost relieved. 10/10
4. Crispin Hershey's Lonely Planet (2015)
Mitchell shows here that while he's inventive, he's certainly not original. Exactly like in "Cloud Atlas", the modern day story is a comedy about an author. I wonder why... This author in particular started off just as irritating as Hugo Lamb, making me dread the rest of the book. The first half was full of unnecessarily detailed jargon (again) but at least it featured Holly. The second half, by contrast, was actually very entertaining and intriguing, with the novella finishing on a very exciting, unexpected and tense note which was very well written indeed. 6/10
5. An Horologist's Labyrinth (2025)
The longest novella is basically where the first four have been heading. It's Jargon Central, with every other word Capitalised because it Means it's a name of Something Important. This gets incredibly irritating, and means that it's very confusing. The whole purpose is this: certain characters are able to live on past death as their own soul in a new body. This is a minefield for confusion, as that means each character has different names and bodies, even simultaneously as it depends who they are talking to. As it moved on, however, things were explained and the narrative became genuinely exciting, and the ending was very good indeed. The problem here is that everything was crammed in, highlighting my opinion that this entire story could have been told very differently, and not as six novellas, meaning there was more time for the central plot (this one) and less ridiculous peripheral jargon about people that don't really interest the reader. Mitchell fell into the format trap, where he decided on his format (his usual) before his content, meaning his brilliant ideas are somewhat wasted. 5/10
6. Sheep's Head (2043)
A very fitting ending, as while the climax of the novel was obviously "An Horologist's Labyrinth", this novella highlights what the real purpose of the novel was. It describes a potentially very real future in which climate change has meant society is collapsing, something very poignantly stated after a story about immortality and baddies who murder the next generation for their own gain (which is, it transpires, a metaphor for the real problem highlighted here). This one is very well written and acts as a reality check. Mitchell is basically saying "It's all very well me writing this fantastical story, but something much more serious is really going on, which is all the more real". I think climate change is a very important issue and really admire Mitchell for this one. 9/10
You can see why it's hard to think of this overall. It's all very disjointed and fascinating yet frustrating and gripping. Lots of things could have been done differently, yet the novel as a whole makes more sense at the end than it does when you are reading it, and I realised I enjoyed it very much, despite its flaws. Furthermore, its message is very important and thought provoking, so it's definitely worth a read. Its title, after all, means a lot more than is first apparent.
7/10
Ed. You know what? After giving this book a lot more thought and time, I'd like to give it a "hindsight" rating of 9/10.
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